Getae at The Ancient Mediterranean

Getae Dacia Map
Lands of the Getae (Dacians), ca. 80 AD.

According to Herodotus, the Getae were “the noblest as well as the most just of all the Thracian tribes.” Getae was the name by which ancient Greek writers referred to the tribes later known as the Dacians (Romanians). When Darius led the Persians in war against the Scythians, the Thracian tribes in the Balkans all surrendered. Only Getae fought the great Persian king.

Although frequently considered a war-like people, the Getae were also cunning diplomats. When the king of Macedon Lysimachus tried to conquer the Getae living North of Danube, he was defeated. The Getae king Dromichaetes took Lysimachus prisoner but treated him well. He convinced Lysimachus that there was more to gain as an ally of Getae and released him.

From 85 to 89 AD, the Dacians were engaged in two wars with the Romans, under their the great king Decebalus. In 87 AD, the Roman troops under Cormelius Fuscus were defeated, and Cornelius Fuscus was killed by the Dacians under the authority of their ruler, Diurpaneus. After this victory, Diurpaneus took the name of Decebalus. The next year, 88 AD, new Roman troops under Tettius Iullianus, gained a signal advantage, but were obliged to make peace owing to the defeat of Domitian by the Marcomanni, so the Dacians were really left independent. Although receiving the title “king client to Rome,” Decebalus received military instructors, craftsmen and even money from Rome, begging the question of who had surrendered to whom.

It took the great Roman general Trajan to end this shameful negotiated peace. His first campaign 101-102) was the siege of the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa and the occupation of a part of the country. His second campaign (105-106) ended with the suicide of Decebalus, and the conquest of the territory that was to form the Roman province Dacia Traiana.

Decebalus

By 85 AD Rome had tired of the warlike Getae and their intermittent raids into the eastern empire. Domitian, along with his Praetorian Prefect Cornelius Fuscus, gathered their forces and traveled to the region to take command in person. The Getae, were pushed back across the Danube without much difficulty. Domitian, likely viewing himself as the hero of the moment left the situation in the hand of Fuscus, while he returned to Rome to celebrate a terribly premature triumph in AD 86.

Later that same year Fuscus took matters into his own hands carrying out a campaign across the Danube. This expedition, which included six legions, set the stage for the ascendance of Decebalus. He met Fuscus at Tapae, in the narrow mountain pass called “Transylvania’s Iron Gates.” There he ambushed and repulsed the advance sending the Romans retreating back across the Danube. Fuscus himself died in battle and an entire legion was likely obliterated as at least one standard was captured. Decebalus, by virtue of his great victory, went on to be named King of all the Dacians.

Domitian, understanding the severity of the situation returned to take direct command. The area was reorganized into two separate provinces allowing more legions were brought into the region, (indirectly leading to the loss of ground in Scotland), but the matter of the Getae was yet to be settled.

Under Tettius Julianus the Romans again met the Dacians at Tapae in 88 AD. This time the Romans were successful and drove the Dacians to retreat. However, the advance was limited by rumors of revolt from the legions of the Rhine together with new attacks from Germanic tribes in Pannonia. Domitian was forced to accept an embarrassing treaty, paying off Decebalus and sending him skilled artisans to help with various infrastructure projects. Though the Romans did annex some land as a condition of the treaty, it was clear that Decebalus pulled a diplomatic victory from military defeat.

It took the great Roman general Trajan to finally bring the Getae to heel. This final war was a combination of difficult fighting mixed with marvels of engineering. The defenses of Decebalus were impressive and Trajan was required to use the vaunted discipline and perseverance of the Roman army to succeed. With the service of the engineer Apollodorus of Damascus, the Romans completed immense road works along the Danube. In a great feat of engineering and architecture, Apollodorus designed a road straight up to and through the Iron Gates of the Danubian gorges by cantilevering it from the sheer rock face. This marvel of technology essentially allowed the legions to walk on top of the river as they made their way into the Carpathian Mountains.

He met the Getae again at Tapae in AD 101 AD. According to Dio Cassius, “(Trajan) engaged the foe, and saw many wounded on his own side and killed many of the enemy. And when the bandages gave out, he is said not to have spared even his own clothing, but to have cut it up into strips. In honor of the soldiers who had died in the battle he ordered an altar to be erected and funeral rites to be performed annually.” Soon after the Romans advanced upon the Dacian capital and Decebalus was forced to capitulate. Surprisingly, the powerful leader was left in power as a client king to Rome, but he agreed to raze his fortresses, surrender weapons and prisoners and paid a sizeable tribute.

Temporarily victorious and having been rewarded the title Dacicus, Trajan returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph. He entertained the people with gladiatorial games and rewarded his officers for their service in the campaign. The celebration was short-lived though as Decebalus may have mistakenly compared the conviction of Trajan to that of Domitian. After his “defeat” to Domitian he was allowed to rebuild his army and defense systems virtually unopposed. This time however, his efforts to rearm were met with a swift and decisive imperial response.

In preparation for another Danube crossing, Trajan again turned to his engineer Apollodarus. A massive stone bridge spanning over 3,500 feet (1,100 meters) in length and 60 feet (19 meters) in width was built using enormous wooden arches set upon 20 stone and cement pillars. Built over the course of 2 years, this bridge became the primary source of traffic to and from Dacia. Despite finally being purposely destroyed a century and a half later by Aurelian as the Romans pulled out of Dacia, it was to remain for more than a thousand years the longest bridge that had ever been built. In AD 105 the new campaign was launched. A hard fought war lasting for just over a year ended with the Romans once again descending upon the Dacian capital of Sarmizegethusa. This time however, there was to be no respite for Decebalus. Rather than end up as a trophy in Trajan’s second Dacian triumph, Decebalus took his own life.

Decebalus

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